List of Warner Bros. cartoons with Blue Ribbon reissues
Many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts were given Blue Ribbon reissues by Warner Bros. between 1943 and 1969. Background The Blue Ribbon program was initiated in late 1943 as a way to cut costs for producing cartoons during World War II, and later as a way to compete against the growing popularity of television. Through the 1955-56 season, the reissues had a given season's opening rings, followed by a title card which showed a blue ribbon (hence the program's title) and a Grand Shorts Award trophy. For the first few seconds of this part, the Merrie Melodies logo was shown on top, with the legends "A WARNER BROS. CARTOON" (or in the earlier years, "Produced by LEON SCHLESINGER") and either "IN TECHNICOLOR" (1943–48), "Color by TECHNICOLOR" (1948–54), "COLOR BY TECHNICOLOR"/"PRINT BY TECHNICOLOR (both 1954-57, the "PRINT.." variation was used if the cartoon was originally made/released in Cinecolor), or "TECHNICOLOR" (1956–64) being shown on the bottom. Afterwards, the title of the cartoon appeared. There was one exception to this (see "Anomalies" below). Beginning with the 1956-57 season, the part where the cartoon's title being showed on the aforementioned background was eliminated. Instead, the original technical credits were shown (all though some of the opening rings were replaced along with the original and closing music). From the 1949-1950 through 1957-1958 release seasons, the Blue Ribbon reissues were assigned new production numbers which appeared below the WB shield on the main title. During the time of the cartoon studio's shutdown, the 1953-1954 (#'s 1351-1363) and 1954-1955 (#'s 1364-1377) reissue production number groups ran back to back. Only color cartoons were eligible to be reissued in this program. Anomalies The 1940 cartoon The Mighty Hunters was the one exception to the original rule. The 1952-53 opening rings and "Blue Ribbon" title card were shown as normal, but then proceeded to the original technical credits. This was the only cartoon which ended up in the a.a.p. package (released prior to August 1, 1948) to be reissued under the 1956-57 (and later) rules. On the other hand, only five cartoons which WB would keep for their own TV packages (released August 1, 1948 or later) were reissued under the original 1943 rules (the technical credits are removed). These were: Daffy Dilly, The Foghorn Leghorn, Kit for Cat, Scaredy Cat, and You Were Never Duckier. The latter cartoon was reissued in the 1954-55 season, while the others were reissued during the 1955-56 season. Recreated titles For unknown reasons, two pre-1948 shorts (both 1995 "dubbed" versions) contain recreated titles under the supervision of media mogul Ted Turner. These shorts are: *''The Night Watchman'' *''Daffy Duck & Egghead'' http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/miscelooneyous/blueribbon/blueribbon3.html Reissued cartoons Cartoons with original technical credits restored on DVD Many of the above cartoons have been restored for DVD release as part of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, Looney Tunes Super Stars and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection DVD releases. However, only a handful of cartoons that were reissued prior to the 1956-57 season have their original technical credits restored. These are: In addition to the cartoons listed above, the following cartoons reissued after 1956-57 have had their original rings restored: In 1995, Turner Entertainment restored the original openings for Hop, Look and Listen and Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt. The titles for Bone, Sweet, Bone are restored for TV but has not been released on DVD. The ttles for Sunday Go to Meetin' Time have been found. The titles for A Day at the Zoo, Of Fox and Hounds, The Isle of Pingo Pongo, Don't Look Now, Wacky Wild Life, Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas, Thugs with Dirty Mugs, A Feud There Was, The Early Worm Gets the Bird, Circus Today, The Mice Will Play, Fresh Fish, Cross Country Detours, and I Only Have Eyes for You were found on eBay in 2007 but never placed on DVD. Sketches and photos of the titles of Katnip Kollege, Sioux Me, The Fifth-Column Mouse, ''Pigs in a Polka, and The Cagey Canary have been found but their real titles have not been found. Further reading *''Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons'', by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald (1989), Henry Holt, ISBN 0-8050-0894-2 *''Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist'' by Chuck Jones, published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, ISBN 0-374-12348-9 *''That's Not All, Folks!'' by Mel Blanc, Philip Bashe. Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-39089-5 (Softcover) ISBN 0-446-51244-3 (Hardcover) *''Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons'', Leonard Maltin, Revised Edition 1987, Plume ISBN 0-452-25993-2 (Softcover) ISBN 0-613-64753-X (Hardcover) See also *Looney Tunes *Merrie Melodies *Censored Eleven *Looney Tunes Golden Collection Sources *Warner Bros. Animation Production Numbers, 1946 to Present (A Partial List) *Field Guide to Titles and Credits Other external links *The Big Cartoon DataBase entry for Merrie Melodies Cartoons and for Looney Tunes Cartoons *[http://looney.goldenagecartoons.com/miscelooneyous/blueribbon/' The Ultimate Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Website by Jon Cooke] *"Warner Brothers Cartoon Companion", a wealth of trivia about the Warner cartoons *Official site Category:Lists of Looney Tunes cartoons Warner Bros. cartoons with Blue Ribbon reissues